


Sketches and Crowded Places

by geeelatinnn



Category: Arashi (Band), Gantz, Platina Data (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff, Platina Data x Gantz, This was inspired by the live action adaptation thus I tagged the actors themselves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:34:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25277797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geeelatinnn/pseuds/geeelatinnn
Summary: At her place, all her sketchbooks are gathered up in one area. She arranged them based on what years she used them, she found it easier this way to find what she was looking for. She had always noted down whether or not she had used a particular sketch before or not but there was this sketch that always bothered her. Each and every one of her works are special to her but this particular sketch was different, every time she looked at it, she felt a warm feeling covering her, she felt a sense of safety, and she felt...loved.
Kudos: 2





	Sketches and Crowded Places

**Author's Note:**

> I mixed together two live action adaptation movies together: Platina Data and Gantz. This was really just something I thought of after watching both movies a few months back and since this was inspired by the live action adaptations I wrote this with the actors who played the characters in mind.
> 
> Also, this is a repost from my lj account (kanagel)

Walking through the busy streets of Tokyo was something she loved to do in order for her to form ideas for her next work. She loved to observe people, it helps her figure out how she wants her next character to look like next. She loved doing this in crowded places and even travelled around a lot, she doesn't stand out that much that people sometimes never did pay attention to her which she could very much use to her advantage.

At her place, all her sketchbooks are gathered up in one area. She arranged them based on what years she used them, she found it easier this way to find what she was looking for. She had always noted down whether or not she had used a particular sketch before or not but there was this sketch that always bothered her. Each and every one of her works are special to her but this particular sketch was different, every time she looked at it, she felt a warm feeling covering her, she felt a sense of safety, and she felt...loved.

_ Kurono Kei _

That was the name written below it. A name was written down even though she had never used it in any of her work, she wanted to keep that particular sketch to herself. She had tried searching the name on the internet but no one looked close to her sketch, even when she checked her old photo albums and photos on her laptop, there was no one who looked close to him. She does not remember when she drew it nor her inspiration. That particular sketchbook was placed in her room, she loved to look at it before going to bed.

*******

Kojima walked leisurely around the train station, her job did not really require her to clock in at a particular time so long as she stayed in the office for eight hours. Just like any other day, she observed the people that walked past her. A man walked by her left side and he caught her attention, he looked like him. He looked like Kurono Kei.

She turned around, but by the time she made the connection he was already a few meters away from her. She walked after him, faster than her pace earlier.

"Kurono Kei!" She called out to him, the station was crowded so it was possible for him not to hear her. She followed after him and when he was within reach she grabbed his coat. "Kurono Kei." She said while panting.

The man turned around to look at her. He gently took off her hand from his coat's sleeve. "I'm sorry, but you got the wrong person." He said in a calm and collected tone before turning his back on her.

Seeing his face up close made her more confident that he really was the guy in her sketch. She was stunned for a little while but followed after him. She rode in the same bus that he did, careful enough to keep a distance that he would not notice her. She followed him until he reached a building that he entered by tapping in his identification card.

_ NPA Special Analyst Research Institute (SARI)  _ the sign read.

Kojima quickly looked for Sumiyoshi Misuzu's number on her phone, her lawyer friend that had plenty of connections was the first person to come to her mind that could help her look into a company's employee list.

"Sumiyoshi," she said as soon as the call connected. "If it's not too much trouble could you possibly find out if there is someone named Kuroni Kei working at NPA Special Analyst Research Institute?"

"It might be difficult getting an employee list," Sumiyoshi said. "But I'll try. I have a case at the moment so I'll hang up now."

"Thank you." Kojima said before ending the call."

She sent a message to work telling them she was under the weather and she stayed around the area where she could see the entrance of his work building. The only time she left that area she was hiding in was when she ate her lunch. She was sketching the building on her notebook to pass the time, she thought it might be something she could make use of in her next work. It was already getting dark but there was still no sign of him going out of the building. Just as when she was about to give up because there was a possibility he left while she was eating, there he was, coming out from the front entrance of the building.

She followed him a few meters away, thinking about how to approach him this time. To her surprise he did not turn to the direction of the train station but instead kept on walking, making a turn from time to time until she realized they were walking at a dark alley. She followed every turn he took, but it was getting even darker. She seemed to have lost sight of him, she fumbled in her bag to look for her phone while walking until all of a sudden an arm blocked her way and it made her jump on her feet.

“You suck at following people.” The man she thought was Kurono appeared in front of her. “Why were you following me? You even went to the extent of stalking me to my workplace. Did anyone pay you?”

She did not answer him but instead marveled at his face, it really did look like the one in her sketch the more that she looked at him.

He snapped his fingers right in front of her eyes to wake her up from her daze. “Your answer?”

She shook her head. “I was just - just… you look like someone.” She avoided his gaze. Tilted her head from side to side. “I can’t exactly say someone I know. But someone I sketched some time ago.”

“Kurono Kei.” he said the name in a serious tone. “Right?” She nodded in response. “As I have already told you this morning. You got the wrong person. Do not follow me.” His voice was threatening and it made Kojima afraid for a little while that she could not move and simply watched him as he walked away.

*******

She brought her sketchbook that had Kurono Kei’s sketch on it in hopes that she might run into him again at the station and she plans on showing him the sketch. But days have passed and she never once ran into him at the station at all. Come Friday, she took the afternoon off from work and went back to his workplace and waited for him to come out again. It was almost 8pm and there was still no sign of him, she waited a little more.

9pm and he finally came out of the building. She wore darker clothes this time, more neutral colors to not be easily spotted by anyone. She kept a considerable distance between them, blending in the crowd of people, careful enough for him not to notice her. Again, he did not turn to the direction of the train station but he took a different path from the one they walked on the last time she followed him. She was having thoughts that maybe he was able to notice that she was following him again. The alley she walked into this time was darker than the one last time, she was about to give up and turn back when somebody suddenly put an arm around her and placed a cloth over her face. She struggled a little before she fainted.

She slowly opened her eyes, squinted when the first thing she saw was the white fluorescent light bulb, which hurt her eye a little. She rolled her head to the side and opened her eyes, she was inside an unfamiliar room, her hands were tied together but that was it, she was still able to sit up. She looked around the room, the furnitures were monochromatic in color and everything was tidy and in place. It was a place she has never been before.

“So have you learned your lesson not to follow random strangers around?” The man said as she turned to look over at the desk. “Don’t worry, I did not do anything that would harm you. I tied your hands up for my own safety.” He leaned on his chair.

Kojima bit her lip. But still, she wanted to know who he was. “Could you take this off of me?” She raised her hands.

The man shook his head. “Not until you tell me why you have been following me. This is the second time.”

She let out a heavy sigh. “My bag.”

He pointed at the end of the bed. Her brown leather bag was placed there with the zipper closed. “I did not rob you or anything. I simply took you here, knocked out so you would not remember how you got here. I need to protect myself, too. But I want to know why you were following me.”

“Open my bag and you’ll see a sketchbook there. Flip it to the middle page and you’ll see… you’ll see a sketch and you’ll understand better why I was borderline stalking you.”

He did as he was told, he stood up to get a sketchbook from her bag and flipped it to the middle page. There it was, the sketch of Kurono Kei. After seeing it, even he was convinced that it looked like him but he still maintained his composure and did not look shocked or bothered by it at all.

“It does look like me.” He said as he placed down the sketchbook on the bed. He sat down beside her and carefully took off the necktie he used to tie her hands together. He took it off gently, once it was off he held her hands together with his while reaching for a tub of cream from his night stand. He gently massaged her wrists with the cream. “Does it hurt?”

She shook her head. Somehow, even after just meeting him, she felt a warm feeling just being with him. His skin was porcelain white up close, his hair was cut short, and his lenses were thicker than she thought they were. She looked around as he was massaging her wrists, at the center table were two bento boxes, one was eaten halfway and the other one was still untouched.

"You must be hungry, I bought some food for you. You were sleeping for a while and it got this late," he looked up at the watch it was 11:30pm. "I think it will be better for you to spend the night here. It's dangerous for someone to travel at this time at night alone… that is if it's okay with you."

She nodded in response. "I'm sorry for causing you trouble." She looked him directly in the eyes and bowed down. When she sat back up she smiled at him, her dimples were defined.

He rubbed his nose with his hand trying to mask any unnecessary reaction he might show her. He stood up and turned his back against her. He took a shirt and pajamas from his dresser.

"You can change your clothes first." He said and left the room to give her some privacy. He closed the door behind him and leaned on it, his hand on his chest.

His breathing became hurried as he remembered how she smiled at him. He closed his eyes and he could picture her: she had long black hair that dropped up to half her upper arm that contrasted with her porcelain hair, and her smile… god her smile, he could not think of words to describe it. Asking her to stay over, now that he thought about it, could he really maintain his composure the whole night?

She knocked on the door to signal that she was done. He did not answer but instead hurriedly went to sit on the sofa so that she would not find out that he was trying to compose himself by the door. She came out of the room wearing his clothes, carrying both the bentos in her hand.

"Would you like to eat together?" She said as she walked towards the center table to put down the bentos. She sat on the floor and placed the half eaten one in front of him. "She turned her head to the side. "You might already be full." She gently took off the lid and separated her chopsticks.

He couldn't see her face but she seemed at ease enough in the way she sat and she was already eating her food. He turned on the tv and there was a variety show rerun playing.

"Ah!" She said. "This ones a fun episode." She said excitedly.

He placed down the remote on the table and sat down beside her to eat his leftovers. Every time she laughed he felt like his heart would burst, he covered his mouth from time to time to restrain himself from saying anything at all. He felt like he was about to lose his composure with the little proximity they had and the way she laughed as if she did not have a care in the world.

"I'm sorry," she cleared her throat. There was a commercial playing on the television. "We really don't have to watch this. We can watch whatever you want, I don't want to… impose too much." She fiddled with her chopsticks.

He swallowed what he was chewing first before he answered her. "Nothing in particular I'd want to watch anyway. Are you done?"

She nodded in response and placed her chopsticks inside the bento before closing it. He took them to his kitchen and threw them in the trash bin.

"Would you like to drink anything? I have tea and beer. Or water?"

"Beer would be fine. Cold beer on a warm summer night~" she said in a sing-song like voice.

He took four cans from the fridge and sat back at the sofa, placing all four cans on the table before picking up one for himself. She was yet again laughing at the show on the television, seemingly unbothered that she was at someone else's place. She opened a can of beer and held it between both her hands. When it turned to a commercial break again, she sat up at the sofa beside him.

"It's strange that I somehow feel comfortable here with you when we don't even know each other's names." She turned to look at him, unbothered with how close the two of them were. He drank what remained of his beer. "Kojima Tae." She tapped her own shoulders with her free hand as she introduced herself.

He cleared his throat and reached for another can of beer. "Kagura Ryuhei." He opened his beer, she was still not moving away from him but sat down facing the television now. "You draw really well."

"I should because it's what I do for a living." She reached for another can of beer as what she was holding was already empty. "It's nice to meet you."

He stood up and took four more cans from the fridge, just in case she would have wanted more. Somehow he felt comfortable with her, like he could trust her. She felt at ease with him, even when she just formally met him.

"What do you do for a living?" He faced his side of the sofa.

He sat a few inches away from her to give them both some space. "I'm a research developer. Currently working on something related to DNAs." She looked at him like she was urging him to say more. He talked a little more about it as she listened intently while drinking her beer.

"That explains why you thought someone was paying me to follow you at first." She took her fourth can of beer.

"Hey, are you sure about that?"

She nodded her head. The two of them talked a little more, not even being bothered by what was playing on the television. He has put his guard down and occasionally laughed in with her as they shared some stories with each other. He found her even more amusing. She was starting to flush red, from laughing too much or from the liquor he could not really tell.

She was feeling a little warmer than she was earlier, she figured it must have been all that beer. They both lost track of how much they have drunk, the table had a lot of empty cans scattered all over it.

"We should call it a night and get some rest." He said pointing to the clock, it was already 2:30am and they already had a lot to drink. "I'll clean these up tomorrow." He turned off the television.

When she stood up, she dropped right back on the sofa after only one step. He put her arm around her before picking her up from the sofa. He gently put her down on the bed. He took his extra futon, moved the center table to the side, and spread out the futon beside the bed.

He turned off the lights. He could still somehow see her because of the light that came in from the window. She was sleeping soundly. He tucked in her hair behind her ear to get a closer look of her face. His heart was beating at a faster pace than normal, he rested his hand on the bed and he felt her place hers on top of his. He took her hand and played with her fingers.

"Kagura." She called out in her sleep. He looked at her face again. "Kagura." She called him once more and smiled, her eyes were closed and she looked calm.

Hearing her call out his name made his heart skip a beat. He let go of her hand and kissed her forehead before he laid down on his futon.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking time to read this. 
> 
> I am open to suggestions and comments. A kudos would make me smile knowing that someone out there liked what I put out :)
> 
> If you want to talk or have any suggestions hit me up at Twitter @geeelatinnn


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